Hey, everyone. Giggens here, your favorite content creator's favorite content creator. We're here today to chat about modern rock legends The Black Keys and their new album, No Rain, No Flowers.

The Black Keys have long since established themselves as a fixture of modern rock radio, particularly over the last 15 years since the release of their Brothers album, which absolutely changed everything for them. They grew a mainstream audience. They were winning Grammys. They were on the radio. TV exposure. They were at the forefront of modern rock.

I, like many people, discovered the band way before that record came out. In those days, they were just two guys. There was drums and guitar, messy blues, and they were all they had. They filled in the gaps with a lot of extra percussion and some great riffs, some fuzz on the guitars, and created some outstanding blues rock records that are some of the coolest of the early 2000s. Artists like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Kimbrough – who they did an EP for at one point – they really established themselves as two guys, drums and guitar, messy rock and roll.

When Brothers came out, they expanded their sound and had a much more fleshed-out band experience. They worked with Danger Mouse, and the record eventually crept up the billboard top 200, peaking at number three in the top albums chart, which is seriously impressive. Their hit single, "Tighten Up", spent 10 weeks at number one for the Alternative Rock Radio. Not bad for a couple of dudes that just wanted to rock.

Since then, the Keys have enjoyed massive success. They've won Grammys, Brit Awards, MTV Video Music Awards. They've had huge tours. They've played Coachella. Sold out Madison Square Garden. They are the rock band of the modern era.

Then 2024 happened. They made Ohio Players, which for me wasn't my favorite album that they've ever done. But they went out and toured Europe. They came back to America and had a meeting with their manager, and their management was like, Hey, we can't do these dates at these places. We're going to set you up in smaller venues. They were like, Okay. Then the smaller venues never happened, and the tour got canceled completely. They got their feet taken out from them hard.

All that pain and frustration and truly just being annoyed at the situation, absolutely fed into what became this new album, No Rain, No Flowers. You hear in their performances on this record – they're hungry, they're spirited, they're determined. The focus on this record is something I haven't heard from them in years.

Like I said earlier, I've been following the Black Keys since probably 2005 or 2006, a long time. I've been with the Black Keys for a while. I've seen the changes they've gone through. And over the last 15 years, they've put out a handful of albums that I've peaked my interest. But this record in particular is the best thing that they've done since Delta Cream, which was like blues covers at the time, and a really amazing record that wasn't meant to be a hit. It wasn't meant to be on the radio. It was just them jamming, doing old blues songs, and it really, really worked.

But as far as an original set of songs from these guys, it's the most fun I've had with a Black Keys album since El Camino and absolutely Brothers. The last handful of albums they've put out, like Dropout Boogie and Ohio Players, there's good songs on those albums, but overall, it felt a little samey like, All right, we've got another Black Keys album. That's cool. It just didn't feel as inspired or as determined or they had something to prove.

Whereas on this album, I really feel like because they got knocked down, the tour got taken away, they couldn't promote an album that they really enjoyed making them, that they were really proud of. They couldn't do anything with it. All that hard work went to nowhere. I really feel like they were like, All right, you guys, okay, let's get back in there and prove it. Let's prove that we're great. Let's take all of our influences and make some kick-ass songs, get back out there, and show why we're one of the best modern rock bands.

No Rain, No Flowers truly is the perfect name for this album and the lead-off song on this record as well. You don't get flowers unless it rains. You don't get to see your hard work payoff unless you put those seeds in the ground and something bad might happen, like rain or the 2024 that they experienced. Now they can look back on it with hindsight and be like, All right, we're going to come out stronger than ever and bloom and create something beautiful.

And that's what this record is. And this song in particular is really cool. They worked with Rick Nowels on this one. He was like, Give me a song name. And they said, "No Rain, No Flowers". And he asked Dan to sing it, just a cappella, and Dan sang it, and they figured out the chords, the key that it was in, and ran with it. But this song has some really great keyboard work on it. And I love the enthusiasm of understanding that things that things were tough and that things can get better.

And that spirit definitely travels throughout this whole album. I wouldn't say every song has that MO, but it definitely wraps up that way by the end. But it's just a nice song, a reflective track, and worthy of the title track. The chorus flows effortlessly. It's like a weight removed, like a mission statement. The song doesn't hang around for long, and I think that brevity is why it lasts such an impression.

"The Night Before" follows that one up next, and I've tried to interpret this song a million times as I've been listening to it. My biggest takeaway from it is that no matter how crappy your day gets, at least you had the night before where things were calm, you're in bed, it's comfy, the world can go away, you're with that special someone, and things are just at peace. No matter how bad your day is going to get, you know I've been high, I've been low, I'm seeing stars everywhere I go, it's like things are going to get rocky throughout the day, and you're going to probably meet some crazy people and have some weird experiences. But at least you'll have the night before to be that armor to get through the day.

"Baby Girl" follows that one up, and it's one of my favorites on the record. I love the pounding ballroom piano feel, and the fuzz all over this one is wonderful. It rocks along, but it has really nice moments of beauty where the vocals are lilting and sparkling. Then it allows itself to explode numerous times. Pretty much a classic Black Keys feel, but a welcomed sense of familiarity. It's a story of love saving the day, that special someone cheering on, and the acknowledgement of that, the appreciation of that.

"Down to Nothing" is a moody, brooding track with really good heavy percussion underneath it all. And it finds the group in a more chill territory. Songs like this showcase their knack for layering. As I said earlier in the review, they are experts at laying on the bottom end of a song. And Patrick Carney is one of the most underrated drummers of all time. His idea of how to build a song from the bottom with drums, maybe bongos, maybe tambourine, maybe a shaker. And then he does this shuffly thing on the snare. All that incorporates into this really cool cool textured bottom end for Dan to play on top of and whoever else is jamming with them. But I don't think Patrick gets enough credit for the work that he does to establish the base of a song. And this is one of those tracks where, like I said, it's a moody song, but having all of the work underneath it grounds it.

"On Repeat" follows that. And this is one of those tracks where I can absolutely hear Al Green singing this and completely nailing it. I love the splashy cymbal on this thing, the dreamy vocals on the chorus, and the shredding solo. The pain of hindsight in Dan's voice is incredible. It's like you're getting over somebody and they just won't get out of your brain. You just keep thinking about them on repeat and how annoying that can be.

"Make You Mine" follows that up next. That's one of my favorites on the record, right down to that '70s R&B vibe with a swirling string section, the twinkling keys, and some of my favorite lyrics on the record: "How many times is one time too many?" It's a great line for picking yourself back up again. But my favorite line is, "Maybe the times may not be right / But all I know is I'd give my life / For just one night to know what love is." It's a song about being totally honest about how bad heartbreak can suck and how it just takes forever to get over it sometimes. Now you're just yearning for human connection and accepting that vulnerability is more than okay. As the song builds up, there's just layers and layers of ooo's and strings and this really great effect on Dan's voice with the reverb. And then it ends with just his voice with just nothing else, super raw saying, "I'll be there." And it's like when things come down to it, that one singular voice, it's like, yeah, you'll be there.

"Man on a Mission", the rock returns. This is a classic Black Keys song, Up and down. It's hungry and gritty, focused and youthful. The dude'' all happily worked up about this girl that he's into, and he's got one objective: be with this girl. He's a man on a mission. Dan shreds on this thing so expertly, and a shake up in the middle is so cool where it stops, very "Tighten Up"-esque, where it changes its focus and it comes back at the end for the turnaround there. But it's just like they're just rocking and jamming the whole way through, and the chorus is so infectious. Classic.

"Kiss It" and make it better. We look for that special care from our significant others and want to be healed. And it could be hard to be vulnerable and ask for help. And I really enjoy the sentiment on this track. And it's definitely one of those ones that continues to grow on me. The first few times I heard it, I was like, Yeah, it may have a little bit sleepy for my taste in the verses, but the song does build really well and creates a cool crescendo of emotions and layers of depth that I think is something to keep... It keeps me coming back.

"All My Life" is another one that has a great layer of texture on the bottom end with bongos and tambourine, the shuffling drums, and a straightforward solo at the end. The pre-chorus is catchy and the layers of chimes on this song. There's chimes on almost every song on this album, but the chimes on this one created that dreamy passageway to the next verse feel. It's not my favorite on the album, but I feel like over time, it's going to grow on me. Like, "Kiss It" has already grown on me. But I do dig the, "Oh my love", vocal moment. It's nice.

The album closes with two absolute modern classics for the Black Keys. "A Little Too High". There's references to Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away". It's a song about keeping yourself grounded. I think understanding that grounding is good and to not get too full of yourself, not let your ego get in the way and to understand you're going to have moments where you're knocked down. You can get a little high off the ground, but don't get too high. I think it's a song about having the right people in your corner, understanding your place in the world. But it's just a rocking song that builds and builds and builds as it goes on, creating this perfect complement to the lyrics of just crashing drums, weary vocals, shrieking guitars. It's one of the more anthemic things they've done in a long time, probably since like, "Submarines", way back in the day.

"Neon Moon" is a perfect closer, and, from what I understand, was one of the first songs that they did for the record. But when things are at their darkest, there's always some sunlight to lead you to your path to figure out where you got to go. And this is the Black Keys that they're most Exile on Main Street, if you ask me. The track itself feels sparser. There aren't just layers and layers of percussion underneath it all. I think that sparseness adds to that almost loneliness you can have when things are at their bleakest. Sometimes when life goes the total opposite direction of the plans that you made, you learn the best lessons about yourself and how to interact and how to respond. And that grounding is soberingly important. You take stock of your present, you understand the gravity of the hardship, and you pick up the pieces.

And the Black Keys are a perfect example of that. The fact that their 2024 was so messed up, the frustrations, the pain, the anger, they used all of those feelings and created one one of the most impressive bodies of work in their entire discography.

It's been a very long time since I've looked forward to coming back to a Black Keys album, so I'm excited by this album, and that hunger, and that tenacity, and that determination from them absolutely shows on this record. It's proving that they're here to stay, which is why on this album I'm feeling a strong 7 to a light 8.

Anthony Fantano. Black Keys. Forever.